Everyone overeats at some point. It could be an extra helping at dinner or sampling every dessert at a wedding or eating for comfort after a tough day. Others set a New Year’s resolution to lose weight but they start, stop and never really let a new eating program take hold. All of these behaviors…
Addictive Behaviors It’s not just substances that can be addictive: there are also addictive behaviors. 12 step support programs can be used for both behaviors and substances, but it’s important for you to identify your addictive behavior first. Here are some common examples of these types of behavior. 1. Gambling Addictions Gambling is one of the…
Addiction is a complicated disease. We now know, for instance, that sugar is addictive. It seems like an innocent enough substance. It just sweetens our food, after all. But it turns out that sugar activates the same reward and pleasure centers in the brain that drugs like cocaine do. It can lead to binging sessions,…
Women with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are more likely to meet certain criteria for food addiction, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The results of the study were published Sept. 17 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The rates of obesity in adults and children in the U.S. have doubled since the 1970s, and it’s considered one of the leading public health problems in the country. We have a strange relationship with food: on one hand, we need it to survive; but, for some individuals, it can be the subject of one…
For some, certain foods like chocolate or chips have a strong attraction. So-called “chocoholics” talk about their affinity for chocolate in ways that incorporate terms usually reserved for addiction to drugs or alcohol. Those that believe that they really cannot eat just one potato chip may feel that this food has a particular hold on…
Television ads don’t do the holidays justice when it comes to healthy eating at Thanksgiving – and Christmas and New Year’s. The image of a plump Thanksgiving turkey on a banquet table filled to overflowing may serve as a trigger to over-prepare high-fat, high-sugar foods and overeat at the table.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced steps that would ban trans fat, the unhealthy preservative in processed foods such as chips, crackers and microwave popcorn, effectively ridding it from the American food supply. Eliminating the ingredient, added to extend a product’s shelf life but packing the worst fat for heart health, is expected…
Behavioral addictions, also called process addictions, are often no taken seriously. Many professionals in the addiction community do not consider them to be proper addictions. These are things like compulsive eating, gambling addiction, Internet addiction and compulsive shopping. In other words, a behavioral addiction is anything that is not a chemical dependency—an addiction to drugs…
Over the last 50 years, sugar has become a staple in the American diet. In a newly released interactive infographic called America’s Sugar Addiction: How Our Need for a Sweet Fix Has Expanded Our Waistlines, Promises Behavioral Health and Addiction Treatment Magazine capture the steady decade-by-decade climb of sugar in all its forms, including cane…